The General and the Mockingjay
by TeenageTimeTraveler
Summary: Dahlia Cartwright survived the The Hunger Games. Now she works at District 13, as General of the Army. But she has another job, that is way more important - find, contain and look after the Mockingjay.
1. Catching The Mockingjay

_My name is Dahlia Harper. I won the 76th Hunger Games. I should of died. Cole should be here in my place. My district was firebombed. I escaped. I now live in District 13 with my best friend Gale. I have a high position there. My main job is to control the army. My second second job is to find, contain and look after the Mockingjay. But that's easier said than done..._

* * *

I drum my fingers on the table in Coin's office. I have places to be right now. And yet here I am, stuck in this room, signing form after form after form to allow her to send me into battle.

"There! Done!" I grin, slamming the pen down and pushing the forms away from me.

"Very good, General Harper." The President nods. "Back to your duties."

"About that," I say, and moisten my lips. "I need to go into the forest, there's been a sighting-"

"Only three. You, Soldier Hawthorne and Boggs, understood?" Coin talks without looking up from her paperwork.

"Yes ma'am." I nod. "Thank you ma'am."

She nods. "Off you go, General."

I nod, and leave the room, walking towards Command. I stick my head around the door, and say, "Soldier Hawthorne, Boggs, with me." They get up without questioning, and followed me to armory. "Take whatever weapon you're going to be best with, and don't put it down, we're going into the forest."

"Why?" Gale asks.

"I think we've seen a Mockingjay." I grin, as we take our weapons and walk to the elevator.

"Where?" Boggs asks.

"Some way north of the fence, about a half a mile. They were heading towards us, apparently." I say.

Gale frowns. "They?"

I nod. "It seems our Mockingjay has caught a fish."

We come out on the floor closest to the ground, but have to go up to the surface via a set of stairs. We check the perimeter is clear before I emerge, followed by Gale and Boggs. We remain silent as I buzz my comunicuff under the security panel on the fence, allowing it to swing open. I look at Gale, and then at Boggs, and we set out into the forest.

After a long while of heading North and seeing nothing, we have all but given up. And then-

"Fire. Three o'clock. Fresh. Seems to still have people around it." I mumur to Boggs and Gale, who nod, following me as I advance.

As get closer, a branch snaps beneath my feet, and I see Finnick Odair scramble for his trident. He aims it at me, though I'm sure he can't see me, and I drop my weapon, holding up my hands. "Finnick, it's me. Delly? Won the games last year? District 12?"

"Delly." Finnick smiles, setting down his trident and standing up to hug me. He's wearing a black shirt and trousers, both netted with holes, and his hair has certainly seen better days. "It's good to see you."

"You too." I grin. "Where's Katniss?"

"Hey Catnip."

Gale and I speak simultaneously, and I notice Katniss lying by the fire for the first time. "Gale?" She asks.

Gale nods. "Get your stuff." He says. "We're taking you to safety."


	2. She's the General?

I type a quick message into my comincuff, telling them to prepare another room - I figure Katniss will just move in with her mother and Prim - and we make our way back through the forest. It's cold, and I can see Finnick shivering slightly as he walks beside me, so I take off my jacket and hold it out to him. Of couse it will be too small for him to wear, but he understands what I mean and wraps it around his shoulders.

"Thanks." He says, smiling.

I nod, smiling back as we reach the gates.

Katniss gawpes at the large metal fence. "Is this-"

"District 13." I answer, grinning.

Katniss and Finnick look at eachother, and watch as I buzz my comunicuff under the fence, allowing it to swing inward, and read the message from it.

"Message, General?" Boggs asks.

I nod. "We're to take them to the hospital for a full check up and any required treatment. If they're stable take them straight into Command if not take them down as soon as they're ready."

Gale and Boggs nod, and I am about to let them go first, when Boggs says, "Don't you think it's a better idea that you go first? We can go the quick way to the hospital, but it's restricted access."

"Gale has access." I tell him.

Gale shakes his head, holding out his wrist on the arm that isn't propping Katniss up. "Got it taken off me."

I raise an eyebrow, but nod, and walk in front of them. As we walk, I have but to nod to the guards that are on duty to let me through, and no words are spoken. We get further into the bowells of District 13, and closer to the hospital, when Katniss says, "Why does she have access to everything?"

I don't turn around, as I know she isn't talking to me. Instead I countinue walking, and hear Boggs tell her, "Because she's the General."

"_She's_ the General?" Katniss asks doubtfully. "Of what? What does she command?"

"The army." I answer, still not turning round, until I say, "And you."

I turn back around as we reach the hospital, and turn to talk to one of the nurses, who's looking at her newest patients. "It's of the utmost importance that you treat them." I say. "And quickly. They're needed by the President. She wants a full check up on both of them, and any necessary treatement."

"Yes, General Cartwright." The nurse answers, and I smile at her. "I'll leave you to it. I suppose the nurses will be fighting over who gets to check Finnick Odair, and I don't want to be stuck in the middle of that."

The nurse laughs, and I hear a snicker from behind me, from Boggs. I turn to grin at him, and watch as Katniss and Finnick are taken away, a blonde nurse immediately latching herself onto Finnick's arm. I give a small laugh and shake my head, and I look to Gale.

"You got training?" I ask. He nods. "Come on then." I smile, putting my hand in his.


	3. The Past: Interviews

Sorry this chapter is so rubbish - I wanted to write a flashback, and then realised I had no idea what to write! The next chapter will be (hopefully)  
much better!

* * *

_"That was a heart breaking scene back there, Delly, in the arena-" Caesar says, clutching my hand. "Did you mean it? What you said to him?"_

_"There's no point lying to the dead." I reply, in a near whisper._

_The audience "awws" but I don't want their sympathy. The memory of Cole rips a fresh hole in my chest every time I think about him. I need to heal, and talking about him infront of the Capitol and the whole of Panem isn't going to help me._

_A tear slides down my cheek, and to he districts, it probably looks fake. But it's all too real, and it hurts to think that they thought I was simply manipulating the Capitol people._

_The audience breaks out into applause, as Casear gives me a hug, muttering assurances to me loud enough so that the audience can hear. As I pull out of the hug, wiping my eyes, Caesar makes another statement, one that causes my whole control to dissolve._

_"And with the added loss of Peeta, you must be so upset."_

_I blink. And for a moment, I simply stare. My eyes well up with fresh tears, my hands shake, and I stare. And then I say, "I'm going to find him."_


	4. A Bad Idea

Training begins with an 8 kilometre run, followed by physical combat and weapons training. I am more than trained in all areas, but I go along anyways, and as I am the most senior officer there, I run up front, do the demonstrations and generally help the students and the trainer. By the end of the hour and a half session I am drenched in sweat, my joints ache and my limbs scream for me to rest, but I don't. I can't. I have a meeting in command to talk about the Mockingjay.

"I'm going to get changed before I go down to Command." I say to Gale, before taking a long gulp from a water bottle filled with ice cold water.

Gale nods. "I'll walk you back." He says.

I smile, and after we've been dismissed, we walk off side by side to my apartment.

* * *

_"I don't know Gale." I say, tucking a curl behind my ear. "It just hurts. It always will. It won't stop."_

_"But you didn't love him?" Gale says, and though he says it as a statement, I know it's a question._

_"No." I reply, looking at my shoes._

_After a painful silence, Gale shakes his head. "I'm sorry." He says. "I shouldn't of brought it up."_

_"No." I say again. "I'm glad you asked me. I want you to understand."_

_He didn't reply immediately, but when he laced his fingers in mine, he said, "I can't pretend to understand. But I'll try to wrap my brain around it._ _I promise."_

_I nod, but still I do not look up._

_"I thought I'd lost you." He murmurs under his breath._

_I looked up at him then, studying him with my bright, blue, merchant eyes._

_"When you sat on top of the Cornucopia with him, and sang to him, and refused to let the Peacekeeprs take you back to the Capitol, where you'd be safe, all because you didn't want to leave him... I thought I wouldn't be getting you back. I thought I'd lost you right then. To a boy you'd never even said hello to before."_

_I look at him, study him, take in everything about him. The way he's looking at his shoes in mournful sorrow, the way the breeze is ruffling his hair and causing him to blink every few seconds, only adding to the hurt expression. I sigh, and move close to him, pressing my shoulder against his. "You couldn't lose me." I say. "You couldn't lose me if you tried."_

_He lookes up at me, stares at me for a while, searching my face for any sign that I'm lying, or trying to make him feel better - I'm not. I mean every word. As quickly as if I'd imagined it, he leans in and kisses me, a soft kiss on the lips that I could not have anticpated. And right when he pulls away, looking at me expectantly, I know that I can not, will not, allow him to lose me._

* * *

"Come on then." I smile, leaving my apartment and unnecessarily locking my door.

Gale leans against the wall outside, and his face is serious. He stands up as I speak, but he doesn't reply. I frown.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"She's back now." Gale says.

_Katniss._ I nod. "Yeah. So?"

Gale shoots me a look, as if to say _'how are you so dumb?'_ "So you know I'm not going to be able to stop myself."

I blink, and look at him. "Try." I say.

He shakes his head. "You know I will. But-"

"When Peeta comes back, that's when you can stop trying." I say. "Now come on, we're late as it is."

He frowns at me, as if he can't understand my statement. I start walking down the corridors, feeling slightly angry. Why did he have to bring that up, when I - we - were perfectly happy? He slips his hand into mine as we walk, however, catching up to me with a quick jog. We walk like that, in silence, moving closer together instead of breaking apart when people walk towards us.

When we enter Command, however, and I take in the girl opposite me, still in a hospital gown, hair loose and wavy down her back and eyes narrowing at us and our clasped hands, Gale lets go, and I sigh inwardly.

Maybe it was a bad idea catching the Mockingjay after all.


	5. What Would You Know About Pain?

"I'm not going to be your Mockingjay." Katniss says, for the fourth time today.

I feel like hitting my head on the desk. We've been here for longer than is necessary. Doesn't she understand that if she justs acts like the head of the rebellion for a while, people will rise up? That with her help, we can defeat Snow? Unite Panem? Get Peeta back? If she does, and she's still refusing, then she's obviously more selfish than thought she is.

Plutarch tells her, for the fifth time, how her being the Mockingjay -just doing a few on screen clips, making a few speeches - will inspire all of the districts to rise up against the Capitol, and crush Snow, so we can unite everyone.

"I don't want to be your Mockingjay." Katniss replies in the same, monotone voice.

That's it.

I stand up, scraping my chair loudly as I do so, and plant my hands on the desk in front of her, looming over her and fixing her eyes with my own. "Do you not understand?" I hiss. "If you just act like you _care _about the rebels and the rebellion for _five minutes_ we can all sleep happily. No more games, no more hunger, no more suffering. We could get Peeta back. We could rebuild our District. We could erase the pain caused by the games for good, and-"

"What would you know about pain?" Katniss growled, looking up at me.

The whole table falls silent, including me. I lift my hands from the desk, and lower myself into my seat. "Which is the quickest way to tell her?" I ask.

"The video montage." Cressida said. "Of you and Cole. We prepared it for the rebels. To remind them."

I nod. Katniss looks at us all suspiciously, as the screens rise up from the table. I close my eyes, but I can't block out the sound. I hear clips of our reaping, of our interviews, and then I hear the countdown, just the last of it "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and it sends shivers down my spine. Just listening to it makes me want to scream and run, but I sit rigid in my chair, squeezing my eyes shut as tightly as I can. I hear clips of us reuniting to kill the Careers, of us fighting of the snake-mutt, of us fighting with Garnet. And then silence. My sobbing. I open my eyes slowly to see an arial view of me, on the screen, with Cole, his head cradled in my lap.

_"Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you."_

I watch, and don't move when a tear slides down my cheek. I fight against myself, trying not to run, scream or smash something. I sit completly still, blinking every so often.

The clip cuts to our kiss, to me closing Cole's eyes and then sobbing, as I'm dragged away by Peacekeepers. The screen goes black, and I realise everyone is waiting for me to say something. My chest hurts. The hole that Cole left has not yet healed, and it's just been torn open twice as big by that video. I look up at Katniss, who is looking at me with the same defiant expression as before, but her eyes shows signs of... what? Sympathy. I don't care. It takes me a while to steel my nerves, before I can choke out, "I know more about pain than you think."

She stares at me, but she doesn't reply. I stand up. "I'm done here." I say. "Don't be the Mockingjay if you don't want to. But if you don't we can guaruntee that _that_ is going to happen again as soon as the Capitol has stamped out the rebellion."

I leave the room, feeling the eyes on my back as I do so. No one follows me. No one calls me back. I am free to leave the room, running down the corridors and up the stairs to the frsh outdoors, where, instead of scanning my comincuff so they'll know where I am, I climb the fence, taking care not to catch myself on the barbed wire, and drop to the ground, running into the forest.


	6. You Don't Want To Do That

_I've just rambled a bit here. Sorry. But I didn't think it was too bad, so-_

* * *

I've brought a weapon with me, and I almost wish I hadn't. It was the first thing I set my hands on, a bow and arrow - the bow is made of mahogany, and it's light in my hands, smooth and sleek and grand. It's gilded in places, on the tips, where to notch the arrows, though I doubt it's real gold. I'm not hunting - I brought only a few arrows with me - this is just for protection. Protection against any beast that may come my way whilst I sit under the large oak tree and think.

I find the tree easily. The path is not worn, but my feet find it as if it's been mapped out with bright neon signs. It's huge, bigger than any of the trees in a mile radius, and the roots of the tree were a perfect place to snuggle into if you needed a quite place to sit. The roots stretched out about five feet, before they split into tiny hair roots, and soaked up into the ground. The branches stretched out even further, and the knots in the tree would make it easy to climb up into them, but I prefer the roots, where I'm close to the ground, able to become the hunter, not the pray if needed.

I settle into the roots, pull my knees up to my chest and folded my arms around them. The sheath of arrows lies beside me against the trunk, and the bow sits in my hand. Someone will notice that it's missing and will know I've taken it. Or then again, maybe they won't. This bow obviously isn't made for combat, more for decoration, and no one would miss it for a while. But I don't care. This is not what's on my mind.

_Cole_. He rarely leaves my thoughts, just lurks in the background waiting to spring on me any time I leave my mind unguarded. I've tried to put the memory of him - and Daven, too - to the back of my mind, locked away behind a door I will never open. But they always find a way out, to the front of my mind. I have no learned to keep my mind occupied to stave off a breakdown.

But now I let it flood my mind: my games, my victory, my loss. My loss_es_. Plural. The losses I've caused. I killed many of the other tributes, purposefully and accidentally, and it weighs on me. Drags me down. I try to deal with the burden, telling myself that other people have done worse, have to deal with worse, but I am wrong. I am a monster. I killed people. I KILL people. That leads me on to an entirely different thought.

I am the general of the army. I train them, put them in their ranks and equip them - for what? Death. No. _Battle_. But ultimately, death. I never stop killing - whether it be in the games, or here, in District 13. Plutarch told me that, in the Capitol, glitter had become all the rage. People were having it inserted into their skin, showering themselves in it, coating their food and their clothes and their pets in it. Everyone wanted to glitter. Grey eyes have seemingly become fashionable too, a first for the Capitol. Dark colours were never their style. But during the games there was seemingly a lot of focus on our eyes, especially Cole's, and in his dying minutes they did several closeups. Not grey, they'd say. Silver. He had silver eyes, and it fit in with the glitter perfectly. Gems, that's what we were. Such a shame to lose one. Such a shame to have one less gem, when the matching set was so perfect. They make me sick. They say they hate the loss of life, when every year they celebrate it. They do not celebrate my victory. They do not celebrate my life. The celebrate the death I have caused and the death that will only be repeated next year. If we do not stop them.

I have no idea how long I sit thinking, but when I look around me, it's dark. It's too late to go back now. I have a strong sense of direction, but it would be rendered practically useless in the dark. I'm cold. I pull my jacket around me, but it's freezing. My hands are purple. I hear a howl some way off in the woods, about a mile or two away, but animals travel quickly. The woods is no place to be at night.

Yet still, I do not move. I notch an arrow, but continue to sit in silence, shivering every so often. My hands shake. If I stay in the cold any longer, I'll freeze. Yet still I do not move. Maybe because I can't. Is that it? Have I stayed here, in the same, hunched up position for so long that my joints have frozen together? Or maybe it's because I don't _want_ to. I don't _want_ to go back to 13 and see my best friend, who's been more than my best friend for months, throwing himself at another girl. Yeah, that's it. I stay still.

After a I dont know how long of staring into the abyss that was the surrounding black forest, a light shines in my eyes. Bright, blinding and artificial. I squint, lifting my bow and aiming it at the source of the light.

"You don't want to do that, sweetheart." A voice calls from a few metres away.

Haymitch steps forward, through the trees, and I wonder how I didn't hear his heavy tread. He walks towards me anddrops his torch on the ground, so that it's pointing at my feet, and away from my eyes. He holds his hand out to me. I look it at, but can't move. I sniffle, and realise for the first time that I've been crying. Or that I am crying. I don't know which.

Haymitch sighs, and bends down to scoop me up. I'm relatively small compared to him, but he's not in peak physical condition either, and he groans slightly as he picks me up.

"Haymitch, you found-" It's Boggs. "Oh. Here, let me take her."

I have already wrapped my frozen fingers around Haymitch's coat, clining to it like a child would cling to it's mother. He looks down at me, and then shakes his head, saying, "I've got her."

Boggs seems unsure. "It's a whole mile to the fence, are you sure-"

"I'm positive." Haymitch grunts, and he begins walking, carrying me forward. I'm not crying anymore, but still I sniff, and think about crying. Haymitch is never this nice to anyone. Ever. He could have passed me off to Boggs by simply unfurling my fingers, but he didn't. I can tell he's struggling, too, as he carries me over shrubs and bushes, through the trees and the plants, yet still he doesn't hand me over. Every so often Boggs will offer to carry me, but Haymitch just grunts, turning him down.

I only realise how cold I am when we submerge into the bright artifical lights of District 13, and the heat floods my skin. A hospital bed is produced, and Haymitch lowers me onto it. I wish to thank him, and tell him how grateful I am, but I can't even move my lips to form the words.

"Don't pull another stunt like that again, princess." He says, and patts my shoulder, allowing a nurse to wheel my off to the hospital.


	7. You Were Very Lucky

I'm wrapped in layers and layers of blankets, so that the heat can get to my skin, and I'm even injected with some chemical directly into my heart to warm up the blood.

"Two degrees colder and your heart would of stopped." A dark-haired nurse tells me. "You were very lucky."

_Lucky._ Ha.

Time passes differently in the hospital - I can feel every minute, every second as it passes, and I have never been more bored. After a few hours, Finnick comes to see me. He's worrying at a piece of rope, tying and untying knots in it, and he's wearing a hospital gown like mine, but he doesn't seem to be ill. I still don't have the ability of speech yet, and I can barely move my limbs, but still Finnick talks to me, and I try my best to nod, shake my head or laugh in response to his words.

"They want to get you up to a regular temperate of 37 degress minimum before they let you out." He says. "So I brought you this." He spreads a thick blanket over me, and it smells like the sea and sand, and I know he's brought it from home. I smile broadly to him, issuing my thanks.

On the second day my temperature reaches 30 degrees, but every so often it drops. I won't be out of here as quickly as I desire, I know. Finnick comes to see me again, and we eat together. He then fills me in one what's been happening.

"Katniss still hasn't agreed to be your Mockingjay," He says, "But they think she's close. The Capitol keeps airing anti-rebellion broadcasts, and Beetee keeps interrupting them. It's funny to watch." Finnick laughs, and I grin. "They think they're closer to finding Peeta, too. They think the Capitol's got him. Coin's going to send in some of her spies to see if they can sniff anything out." I sit up in bed, and Finnick smiles. "Don't worry. I won't let them rescue him without you." He grins. Slowly, his smiled fades. "Fulvia wanted to have you demoted. Says that you're unstable.  
Haymitch hasn't stopped defending you since he got back."

I blink, and stare almost blankly at Finnick. "Rlly?" I whisper, my first word in two days. My tongue feels stuck to the front of my teeth, and I choke out the word, not even pronouncing it or forming it correctly.

Finnick smiles at my effort, and nods. "Really. Gale was sticking up for you too. " He added on the end. I stare at him blankly again, which he takes as a sign to carry on. "Gale's been going out of his mind wanting to come in, but apparently your immune system's been weakened, so they won't let anyone come see you."

"You." I whisper, and Finnick smiles.

"I'm not supposed to be here." he raises a finger to his lips.

I smile, and he chats to me for an hour or so long, before he's scolded by a nurse and told to go to bed. The nurse takes me temperature, checks the monitors and screens around me, takes my pulse and a few other medical things that I don't understand, before she declares me bedridden for another day. Just as she's about to leave, I manage to rasp out the word, "Gale?"

She turns to look at me, stunned. As if my speech is some unbelievable miracle, that she simply can't fathom.

"Hay-mitch?" I manage to choke out after, and the nurse stares at me. She's beginning to frustrate me. She takes a few steps towards me, and puts her hand on the edge of my bed.

"You're not allowed visitors." She says simply, in a soft, soothing tone.

I raise my eyebrows, without verbally asking why. Unnecessary words are to be avoided. She gave me a look of poor sympathy, and said, "The cold really damaged you, love. If anyone comes in now with even something so much as a flu, it could make you seriously ill."

I frown. "Pl-ease."

The nurse looks at me for a long time, before nodding slightly, in a sort of blink-and-you-miss-it way, and leaves my bedside, drawing back the curtains as she does so. She's gone for a long time, so long that I feel like going to sleep, but then I see the curtain twitch, and a person walks in from behind it.

"Hello." I croak, smiling at him.

"Hey princess." Haymitch replies.


	8. I'll Try My Best

_Small chapter again - sorry!_

* * *

"Demotion?" I rasp. One word sentences seem to be my forte at the moment.

Haymitch shakes his head, and takes a seat next to my bed, crossing his arms on the metal frames. "I managed to convince Coin otherwise." He says.

I nod, and smile weakly. All of this talking - all five words of it - has tired me out. Haymitch looks at me, and then says, "Why d'you want me here, princess?"

"Carried me." I mumble. "Why?"

"Cause." He says. But that's not a sufficiant answer. I stare at him with disapporiving eyes, until he sighs, reluctantly saying, "You reminded me of my girl."

For a moment, I stare at him blankly, and then I remember. Haymitch's heart-breaking story. His family and his girlfriend killed, all because he made the Capitol look foolish, using them to his advantage. His life destroyed because of stunt that actually saved it. It hurt to think about it, that without that stunt, Haymitch could be married, with young-ish children, and no alcoholism. Then again, he probably wouldn't even be here.

"You just needed someone to look after you." He continued after a few minutes.

"Still do." I croaked.

Haymitch gave me a sort of half-smile, and then looked down.

I had no family but my brother in District 13. My father had died years ago, when I was only young, and my mother and Palmer had been killed in the bombing. I had Oleaster. He still looked after me. But he had a wife, now, and a young child on the way. There was no space for me in his apartment. I was left by myself, in the empty apartment, with Oleaster on a completely different floor. I felt totally alone, now more than ever.

"I'll try my best, sweetheart." Haymitch said, stretching out a hand and patting my shoulder. "I'll try my best."


	9. The Past: Talks

_The train is silent as it glides over the tracks, making barely a sound. Effie, Haymitch and I sit at the dining table. They eat heartely, while I push my food around my plate. It's a plate of lam ribs in a thick, red gravy that horifically mimicks blood, and stops me from eating any of it at all. After a few minutes of pushing it around my plate, Haymitch puts his cutlery down, and hushes Effie._

_"If you don't eat you're going to make yourself ill, sweetheart." He says, looking at me with his sad, grey eyes._

_"Not hungry." I mumble._

_"It's not the most _tasteful _dish, I've gotta admit." Haymitch gives disapproving glare to the chef who stands in the corner of the room, and he hands his head in shame. Haymitch looks back at me and says, "I know it hurts. And it's not going to stop soon. But you need to move on."_

_Effie's eyes flit from me to Haymtich, and then she says, in barely a whisper, "I'll leave you two alone." She's walked halfway across the dining car before she turns back to face us, and says, "I miss him too."_

_I look up at her, and see her chin quiver, before she turns and walks out of the room._

_"I didn't mean to upset her." I say, still looking at the door._

_"It doens't take much, princess." Haymitch says, already shrugging it off._

_A waiter comes and takes my full plate away, and I frown, noticing the chef has gone. A plate of goose in a thick brown sauce is brought out, and Haymitch clasps his hand together on the table. "Eat that." He says, in a soft but demanding way._

_I nod, and take a bite of the meat. I haven't eaten in a while, though there's been enough food given to me to last a life time. I'm ravenous, and I demolish the food in a few minutes. When I look up, Haymitch is smiling slightly. He becons a waiter forward with a flick of his fingers, and my plate is taken away. He shakes his head at one of them, communicating something I've missed, and all of the kitchen staff disappear._

_"Look, sweetheart," Haymitch says. Usually when he says this he means it in a patronising way, or a sarcastic way, emphasining his term of endearment to make me squirm, but this time his voice is softer, gentler than I've ever heard it before. "I know what it's like. It hurts. I lost Maysilee, but I sure didn't love her like you loved that kid. I lost my girl, though. With that stunt I pulled. And I loved her more than anything." He paused, and I almost regretted being such a moody little victor. "It's not going to get better any time soon. Especially not when your around his family all the time. But it will. You'll moe on eventually. I promise. You just have to keep your chin up. Don't let them-" he stabbed a finger to the door to the kitchen, indicating not the chefs, but the Capitol people - "get to you. You'll be okay sweetheart."_

_I have never seen Haymitch like this before. He has to be drunk. Or maybe he's on morphingly. I wasn't sure, but I wans't going to take it for granted. "Thank you." I murmur._

_He nods, standing up from the table. "Don't expect this again, though, princess." He says. "This is a one time thing."_

_I smile, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. "I won't." I say._

_He nods again, and leaves the room,leaving me to stare at the empty table._


	10. We're Going To Leave That To You

Four days of being bedridden has made me anxious to get back to training, but I am told that I'm not to go outside for another three days, until the doctor can guaruntee that my temperature isn't going to dip below 33 degrees. I do training indoors, instead, and Finnick is there to see me being discharged from the hospital.

Having not walked for four days or so, my legs feel stiff but wobbly as I stand up out of my wheelchair, and walk toward the door. My legs shake and I stumble, catching on to Finnick and Haymitch's outstretched arms. I steadied myself, and stood up straight. I hug Finnick quickly, nodded to Haymitch, and we leave the hospital.

I was back in my uniform - grey pants and a grey vest top (a privelage I had received after being promoted to General - I complained that the grey polo shirt restricted me from moving properly to execute certain moves) and a black jacket with a golden mockingjay pin embroidered into the waterproof fabric. My boots feel stupidly heavy as I walk along the corridors beside Haymitch, but I carry on quite stably.

My power of speech has almost returned, but it still tires me out to give long sentences. "If Gale was so worried why isn't he here?" I mutter, and here Haymitch exhale in a gust beside me.

"Someone's gotta look after that girl, sweetheart." he says, and he doesn't say anything else as we walk the corridors to command.

The door slid open as I held my comincuff under the scanner, and the talking in the room stopped.

"General Cartwright." Coin says. She's sat at the head of the table, as always. Around her sit Boggs, Plutarch, Cressida, Fulvia, Mesalla and Gale.  
Katniss isn't there. "Lovely of you to join us."

"Lovely to be out, ma'am." I reply.

I sit in a chair next to Cressida, and she smiles sweetly at me, setting a hand down on mine. I notice Gale's eyes following me as I sit down, and I feel them on me for a while, before he is forced to look to the hologram in the middle of the table.

"We're discussing our rescue plan for the captured tributes." Coin says.

"TributES?" I ask.

Coin nodds. "Our spies have informed us that Peeta isn't the only one being held captive."

"They have Johanna, Enobaria and Annie, too." Gale says, his eyes meeting mine across the table.

"Annie." I murmur, and my attention is cut to the hologram of a Capitol building near Snow's mansion that I sort-of recognise. It had three floors,  
and with a flick of her hand, Coin made the hologram move up, so we could see the sewers, which are big enough to comfortably have trucks drive through them.

"We're going to send you in underneath, and you'll have to disable the pods which are here, here and here," She points to three flashing ovals,  
dotted even spaces apart along the tunnels.

"Pods are like, well, like pods that'll release something nasty if we activate them and don't realise." Cressida explains to me, and I nod.

"There's a hatch a few metres to the right of the third pod. Open it, and it should lead up into a shaft with a ladder in it. Climb up there and you'll get on to the lab in the fourth floor." The hologram changes to a close up plan of the fourth floor, and the lab we'll enter into is highlighted pink.  
"Expect to see some horrors in there." Coin says, her voice turning deep and mysterious. The room beside it flashes pink. "This is Peeta's room.  
The rooms are connected by a metal gate, I'll let you think of why," Coin looks at us all before turning back to the hologram. "Johanna is just behind him. Annie's on the opposite side, so send another two people to get her. She's with Enobaria, we think." Coin nods. "We haven't got the official team yet, and this is the only strategy we have. As for who is going to do what and go where, we're going to leave that to you, General."  
Coin's eyes settle on me.

I nod. "I don't want Katniss anywhere near this mission." I say. "She's to volatile."

The people in the room nod.

"As for others I want Boggs, two of his men, Soldier Jackson and Soldier Hawthorne."

"That's it?" Plutarch asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Too many of us will get us killed." I reply simply.

Coin nods. "We go tonight. If you're up to it."

"More than ready." I reply.

"Go and choose your men, then, Boggs," Coin says. "Soldier Hawthorne, your comunicuff." Coin takes it out of her pocket and hands it to Gale, who mumbles a thank you. "Boggs, you're to tell Soldier Jackson too. You'll meet at the launch pad at zero-hundred hours. Anyone who isn't there will be left behind. Sort out your plan before you go." Coin nods. "Good day, soldiers, general."

We nod, and Coin leves the room, leaving me to tell the others the plan. 


	11. I'm Going First

It was pitch black as we walked across the wasteland of 13 to the hovercraft. It's already manned with three pilots, ready to take off as soon as we are all aboard and strapped in. I walk in front, flanked by Boggs and Gale, who are in turn flanked by Jackson and Boggs' men. We board the plane, strap ourselves in, and fit ourselves with our headsets, so we can communicate.

The plan is simple: We will be dropped on the outskirts of the Capitol, were we will go underground and make our way into the heart of the Capitol, right by Snow's mansion, and to the building where they're being held. The route we'll take means we'll meet the minimum number of pods, only three overall. We'll then climb into the building, where Boggs and his men will go and get Annie and Enobaria, and Gale, Jackson and I will go and get Peeta and Johanna. We'll then be airlifted from the top of the building.

Simple.

We are lowered into the Capitol, far away from the cameras and brightly clad citizens. We slip unnoticed down into the sewers, and just as Jackson gets into the tunnel, closing the hatch behind her, I hear a faint beeping noise.

"Pod." I murmur. I take my gun, switching the infra-red on. The pods release a certain amount of heat, due to the energy needed to activate them, and I lift the eyepiece up to my face. I can see it, blinking in the distance. I take my gun, aim and shoot. A large, barbed net flies out from the pod, which is safely round the corner, so we remain intact. "Tread carefully." I warn my team, and I step forward into the tunnel.

Two pods and a lot of twists and turns later, and we are standing below the ladder leading up to the building. It looks like a long climb, and for a second, I doubt I can do it. I'm still recovering. My limbs still turn to jelly if I exert them too much, after four days of little-to-no muscle use. But I take control, steel myself, and say, "I'm going first. I want Gale afterwards, followed by Boggs, Jackson, Leonid and Carter." The team nods, and I begin to climb.

I don't know how far up we are when I begin to feel tired. I take a deep intake of breath, and pull myself upward. I'm worrying, now. _What if I can't make it_? I think. _What if I get up there and then just drop?_

I can't allow myself to think like that, so I continue upward, until my head hits something hard and metal.

"Ow!" I murmur. It echoes softly down the chamber.

"What's wrong?" Gale asks in a whisper. His voice is urgent, and I feel one of is hands on my back.

"I've reached the top." I reply quietly I swivel my torso round 180 degrees and see a latch. I smile. We've made it. I listen for voices before I reach out, and open the hatch.

I pull myelf into the lab, and am immediately met with the unbeliavble stench of human blood. I can hear screaming coming for a long way off, probably a whole different floor. I know that the Capitol have other prisoners besides the victors, but it still worries me. There are viles of brightly coloured liquids along the wall, and some sharp, pointing instruments along another bench. I gulp. As I land on the floor with a thud, I put my hand in something sticky, and look down to see a large pool of scarlet red blood that hasn't been wiped off the pristine white tiles yet. I wipe my hand on my dark trousers, and help pull the others through.

"Let's get out of here." Leonid says quietly, wrinkling his nose.

I nod, and lead the way out of the lab. I hit a guard in the face with my gun, smashing his walkie-talkie with the butt of the gun. He was alone, so hopefully he'll go unnoticed, especially when Leonid and Carter drag him into the lab and prop him behind the door.

We move down the corridors until we reach a door, like that of a stereotypical prison, made of simply metal bars. I can hear whimpering coming from that direction, and I instictively move towards it. I look though the bars to see an empty cell, made completely of white, shiny tiles, with a drain in the centre of the room. The tiles are splattered with red. Though I can see no one, I know that the someone is in there. I bend my head around, moving it close to the bars, and see a flash of blonde hair.

Peeta.


	12. I Got It

I shine a laser over the lock on the door, and it snaps off easily. Tech at 13 is advanced, that's for sure. "Guard the doors." I say to Gale and Jackson, and they nod. Boggs, Leonid and Carter have already went off in search of Annie and Enobaria. I enter the cell, and immediatel hear Peeta scuffling. He moves right back to the corner of the cell, nothing but fear in his brightblue eyes.

It is the first time I have seen my best friend in two years, and he seemed utterly afraid of me.

I walked towards him, and raise my hands. "Peeta it's me. Peeta, sweetie, it's Delly. You remember me, right?"

"Delly?" He croakes.

I nod, lowering myself to my knees beside him. He gulps, and I see tears well up in his eyes. He touches a scar I received on my forehead from the games with shaking fingers. "That wasn't there before." He murmurs.

"I'll explain it as soon as we get you back." I say to him, running my hand through his matted blonde hair. I kiss his forehead, and hear a cry from outside. I look to the cell door, and feel Peeta grip my hand tightly. "Jackson? Gale? One of you get in here." I call.

"We're a bit busy, boss." Jackson grunts in reply.

I turn to Peeta and try to convey my urgency. "Can you stand?" I asked. He nods, and pulls himself shakily to his feet. "Wait here. I'm just going to get Johanna."

"She's just come back from...there." Peeta trembles, and as I cut the lock on Johanna's cell, I see what he means.

Johanna's luscious chocolate hair had been shaved to her skull, and all over her head their were tiny cuts - they hadn't paid to much attention to what they were doing when they did it. She was unconscious, but she was trembling. She was soaking wet. I take a deep breath, and I pick her up, slinging her over my shoulder as delicately as I can.

"Come on sweetie." I say to Peeta, taking a tight hold of his hand.

When we get outside there are three guards sprawled on the floor, and Gale has a bloody nose. Boggs, Leonid and Carter are waiting for us to go,  
but they have only Annie with them.

"Come on," I say. "We're going."

They nod, and we move up the stairs to the roof, where there should be a hover craft overhead. The sun's coming up now, and I can feel how properly tired I am.

"Want me to take Johanna?" Gale asks.

I shake my head. "I've got her." I say through gritted teeth. For someone so small she wasn't light.

We get to the roof, and see a ladder hanging down, seemingly from the sky. But on further inspection it's attached to a hovercraft, and I allow Boggs and Annie to go first. "You next, Peeta. Gale, help him up." I say, and Gale nods. Peeta slips a few times, but he disappears into the hover craft after a few minutes. Leonid and Carter go up next, followed by Jackson, and I am about to climb up with Johanna on my back when the door to the roof bursts open, and several peacekeepers burst onto the roof.

"Take Johanna!" I say to Carter in a calm, commanding voice. He nods, and slings Johanna over his shoulder and disappears into the hovercraft.

Gale's voice comes over my headset. "Need some help?" he asks.

"I got it." I reply, turning to face the peacekeepers. First I work on closing the roof door, setting an automatic lock in it that I've been carrying around in my pocket for the whole mission. Anyone tries to open it, or gives it too hard of a knock, and it'll explode. I set it to beep to illustrate that. There are five peacekeeprs on the roof, and two are already climbing the ladder to the hovercraft. I am forced to forget about them, knowing that the people in the hovercraft will be able to sort them out. The first guard comes at me with his gun but I slam it back in his face, knocking him to the floor and giving him a kick in the head for good measure. I punch the second guard in the stomach, and as he doubles over, I knee him in the ace, sending him to the floor. The last guard is cocky, and he drops to one knee to aim his gun at me. I kick the barrel of the gun and it hits him square in the face. I push him to the ground and take his gun, throwing all three of them over the edge of the building.

"Go! Go!" I command, grabbing on to the bottom of the ladder and climbing into the plane as it takes off over the Capitol.

* * *

_I'm going to be gone for a week or so, so I promise more updates when i return. In the meantime, reviews!_


	13. You Can Stop Trying

The hovercraft lands in District 13 silently and softly. Feeling like a mother with her young child, I coax Peeta to his feet and lead him out of the hovercraft. Coin, Plutarch, Fulvia and Cressida are waiting to meet us. Cressida has the camera rolling.

"They need medical attention." I say, and Plutarch nods, beckoning forward a nurses with hospital beds. I wait until the patients are loaded onto the ebds and carted away before I turn to Coin. She looks at me for a while, and I raise my hand to my forehead in salute, something that I rarely, if ever, do. But knowing that the cameras are rolling has made me eager to seem professional.

"General Cartwright, your mission was successful?" She asks.

I gulp. "We couldn't find Enobaria."

"She's from 2." Coin says. "They'll have her in the lap of luxury."

"Then yes, ma'am." I say, nodding. "The mission was successful."

"Excellent." Coin nods. "This is your debriefing. Mission is closed, deemed successful. You are to make sure the patients are treated with the utmost care and precision. You're to gather all the information you can about the Capitol from them. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"This is a solo mission, General." Coin adds. Her silvery hair is blown to her left by the wind. "You are the only one with access to the patients until I decide otherwise. Go now."

"Yes ma'am." I repeat, and nod, following after the nurses and the stretchers.

Gale catches up to me halfway down the corridor. He walks beside me, almost jogging as I walk at a quick pace into the lower chambers of District 13.

"Peeta's back." I say.

"So?" He asks.

"So you can stop trying." I say.

Gale stops, and I continue walking, breaking into a small jog in order to reach the hospital.


	14. Completely Scared

Peeta is sat on a hospital bed, his blue eyes wide as three doctors stand around him and probe him with torches, sticks and needles, trying to find out what the Capitol had done to him, as he was seemingly unharmed (except for the fact that you could see his ribs right through his shirt). They haven't changed him out of his Capitol clothes yet, and as I enter the room his eyes flick to me, and he goes to take a step towards me, but the doctor's push him back. I smile reassuringly at him, holding out my palm to tell him to sit down. He does as he's told, and when one of the doctors steps away, I step in to take his place.

"How are you doing?" I ask him.

"This place..." He looks around himself at the bright lights and people swarming about the tiny white room, and he looks at me, seeming confused and amazed all in one go.

"I know." I reply, smiling. "It takes a while to get used to it."

He nods, and he looks at me for a second longer, and I see something in his eyes. He's scared. Completely scared. Though I assured him a thousand times over on the way here that he was safe, he's still terrified that something's going to happen to him. One time, when we were younger, and we weren't yet old enough to even _know _about the Hunger Games, we were out playing outside the bakery by the pigs, when Peeta threw his ball to hard, and it smashed right through the window of the bakery, and into the kitchen, where his mother was prepaing more bread for the oven. His blue eyes widened and his jaw hung open, and he just stared, his eyes glistening. I had never seen him so afraid before. I covered for him, saying that I had thrown it and that it was my fault, though she probably didn't believe me. But the fear in his eyes was almost unnerving, and the only time I had ever seen that fear again was when he was picked for the Games, that Reaping Day, when I stood and watched him as he made his way to the stage. And now here it was again. I took hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as the doctor who had left, returned.

I look down at my comunicuff as it gives a small bleep, which I almost miss over the sound of the metallic clinking and whirring of machinery.

_Mockingjay come to hospital_. _Expect her arrival._

I sigh, and Peeta's eyes flick back to me in question. I say nothing however, and, giving his hand a squeeze, I leave him to walk to the nurses to inform them of Katniss' arrival, and then I walk back to him, taking hold of his hand again.

The doors swing open, and Katniss walks into the room, her eyes wide, looking about her as she looked for Peeta. She saw him, and he saw her.

Their eyes lock. And then I hear the feral growl that escapes Peeta's throat as he springs forward off the bed, running towards Katniss. It's obvious to me and everyone else that Peeta's going to kill her, but Katniss is caught up in the moment, holding her arms out to him as if to embrace him. And then his fingers close around her throat.


	15. Don't Go In There

"Peeta!" I yell, as Katniss's face starts turning purple.

I run forward and prise his fingers from her throat, holding his arms behind his back and dragging him backwards. A doctor handcuffs his hands together behind his back, and a few nurses lead Katniss away into another room. Peeta's still raging, yelling things at her and trying to run forward. I yank him back, holding him by his handcuffs which he thrashes against wildly, and eventually a doctor stabs his neck with a needle,  
injecting the bright pink sedative into his vains. He flops to the ground, and I ctch him, leaning him on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Peeta." I murmur as his eyes close. "It's okay."

* * *

I'm stood in a room looking in on Peeta's, where there are a few others - Boggs, Haymitch, a few doctors and a psychiatrist, looking in on Peeta anxiously. The one way wall allows us to see him, but not the other way round. He lies on his bed, his arms strapped down, three bands on each arm, and bands around his waist and ankles. He's peaceful, though, in his forced sleep, and I want to go in and sit by him. But that won't be happening.

Peeta has been hijacked. That much is obvious. The Capitol have ruined his mind, his fondest memories, with Tracker Jacker poison. Injecting it into him, coursing it through his brain till it effected him so much that he couldn't bear to even look at Katniss. To the point where he wanted to kill her. To the point where he thought she was a mutt. They had killed the boy he used to be.

The doctors leave the room, and enter Peeta's, prepping him for mine and Katniss' visit. They want to find out more about this - how many of his memories have been effected. It's obvious that any memories of me haven't been damaged, but if they have, the focus is more on others than myelf, as he can still stand my company. I leave the room, too, and find Gale standing outside.

"Don't go in there." He says.

I do not frown. I do not ask why. I simply reply, "He's my friend."

Gale sees my reluctance to talk to him, and he sighs. "Look," He says, taking a step towards me. "I know I haven't been the same, since Katniss got back-"

"And I told you you didn't have to try to be the same anymore." I say, looking up at him. He's tall, and he towers over me. "Because I'm not."

Gale frowns momentarily, and says, "What?"

I ignore his question. "Gale, you're annoying me now. What do you want?"

He sighs again. "I want you to not go in there." He says.

"Not an option." I reply.

"Please." He continues, in a beseeching tone.

"Why do you care?" I snap, and a doctor who I assume was about to tell me they're about ready for me scurries back into the room I jut came out of.

"I've _always_ cared about you, _actually_." Gale huffs, and I can tell then that I've pissed him off. Good. "You know what, I don't care. Go in there,  
and get yourself hurt. Or killed. I don't care." He spat at me, and he turned on his heel, walking away.

I stare after him for a long time, even after his large frame has left my view, turning into one of the smaller corridors. It was the first time we'd had a proper conversation. It was the first time he'd shown any sign of caring about me since Katniss' arrival. And because I was me, and I was being bitter and harsh, I had messed up. Great. Just what I need.

Plutarch comes over to me after a while, and he tells me that Katniss will be coming to see Peeta to, though I tell him how bad an idea I think that is, and, as the General, I should have some say. But he ignores me, and tells me that I have to try and at least _act_ cheerful toward her to show her that everything will be okay. As we're talking, I see her come up towards us, and I force a large smile.

"Katniss!" I call, as if she's my best friend. She isn't.

"Hey, Delly," She says, a little less somber than I expected. "How are you doing?" She asks.

My cheeks are aching. Faking a smile hurts. "Good. Better than last time you saw me. They've been particularly nice to me since then."

"They've made an effort to make us feel welcome," Katniss says. "Are you the one they've picked to see Peeta?"

I nod. "I guess so. Poor Peeta. Poor you . I'll never understand the Capitol," I shrug. I'm taking this acting thing too far, I think. I don't even sound like me. No, I do. I sound like me before. Before the Reaping. Before the Games.

"Better not to, maybe," Katniss mumbles.

"Delly's known Peeta for a long time," says Plutarch.

"Oh, yes!" I try to smile wider. "We played together from when we were little. I used to tell people he was my brother."

"What do you think?" Haymitch asks, turning to Katniss. He gives me a small, worried look before he does, though, having missed my conversation with Plutarch. "Anything that might trigger memories of you?"

"We were all in the same class. But we never overlapped much," Katniss says.

"Katniss was always so amazing, I never dreamed she would notice me, until the Reaping," I say. I'm laying it on thick and I know it. "The way she could hunt and go in the Hob and everything. Everyone admired her so."

Haymitch and Katniss stare at me hard, and I'm sure I've overdone it now. Or maybe they're trying to figure out what caused this sudden change in me, what made me into the everything's-rosey girl I was before.

"Well," says Plutarch, after an unusually long silnce. "Let's give it a shot."


	16. I'm Not Trained For This

I purse my lips tight as I open the door to the room. Peeta is scared, I remind myself. He needs reassuring. I need to be the person to reassure him. His eyes flicker to the door as his hands clench and unclench, his fingers stretch and coil. I smile, and I see confusion wash his face for a second. "Peeta? It s Delly. Just Delly." I say softly, reaching the bed and sitting in the chair by his side.

"Delly?" Peeta studies my face for a moment, as if trying to decide if it really IS me or no. He must trust me, as he gaves a small sigh of relief and says "Delly. It s you."

"Yes!" I say, relief ringing my tone, too, though I try to sound more reassuring. "How do you feel?"

"Awful. Where are we? What's happened?" asks Peeta.

I moisten my lips quickly. I have been told to avoid this subject at all cost, and though I am not bad at lying - I'm excellent, in fact - I don't like doing it to people I love.

"Well we're in District Thirteen. We live here now," I say slowly.

"That's what those people have been saying. But it makes no sense. Why aren't we home?" asks Peeta. A small frown crosses his face, causing a line to form inbetween his eyebrows.

I bite my lip hard to stop it from quivering. How much I want to tell him the truth. But that's not possible. "There was an accident. I miss home badly, too. I was only just thinking about those chalk drawings we used to do on the paving stones. Yours were so wonderful. Remember when you made each one a different animal?"

"Yeah. Pigs and cats and things," says Peeta. He smiles momentarily, and then he frowns again "You said about an accident?"

I feel the sweat break on my forehead. I have been trained for these types of situations, however, and I try to remember some of my training. "It was bad. No one could stay," I say, but I know I've stopped and started too much. I hear Haymitch's voice over my earpiece. "Hang in there, girl."

"But I know you're going to like it here, Peeta." I assure him. "The people have been really nice to us. There's always food and clean clothes, and school's much more interesting," I smile.

"Why hasn't my family come to see me?" Peeta asks.

I feel a hole rip open in my chest, and my smile fails. I have been trained for many situations. This is not one of them. At least, not like this. Peeta's eyes, wide wih fear, confusion and another emotion I can't read, stare deep into mine, which are welling up no, no matter how hard I blink them back. I take a deep breath, and set my hand on his softly.

"They can't." I say. "A lot of people didn t get out of Twelve. So we'll need to make a new life here. I'm sure they could use a good baker." I laugh, trying to make a joke out of it, though tears are close to spilling out onto my cheeks. I try to change the subject, veer him away from the bombing. "Do you remember when your father used to let us make dough girls and boys?"

"There was a fire," Peeta says suddenly, ignoring my attempts to change the subject.

No point in lying to him any longer. "Yes," I whisper.

"Twelve burned down, didn't it? Because of her," says Peeta angrily. Because of Katniss! He begins to pull on the restraints, and I know I have to defend Katniss, change her mind. Peeta's hand flicks my own away and I a forced to grab hold of his hand hard, trying to calm him down.

"Oh, no, Peeta. It wasn t her fault," I say.

"Did she tell you that?" he hisses at me.

"Get her out of there," I hear Plutarch say over my ear piece and I shoot a wild look at the wall where they stand, watching us. I'm not ready to go.

"She didn't have to. I was-" I begin, but he's screaming at me, interrupting me completely. The door has swung open and doctors and guards are coming in, but I do not let go of Peeta's hand.

"Because she's lying! She's a liar! You can t believe anything she says! She's some kind of mutt the Capitol created to use against the rest of us!" Peeta shouts.

"No, Peeta. She's not a-" I try again, but he's past listening. He's clamped hold of my hand now, and as I look down my hand is going purple. But still I do not move.

"Don't trust her, Delly," Peeta yells, as I am wrenched from his grip and dragged towards the door. "I did, and she tried to kill me. She killed my friends. My family. Don t even go near her! She's a mutt! She's a-"

The door slams shut behind me, and I burst into tears. Sobs rack my body, and I throw my head into my hands, though I don't know why. If anyone, it should be Katniss that is crying. But she gives me a long, solemn look as she leaves the observatory, accompanied by a few guards, walking away from me down the corridor.


	17. The Past: Home

_The train slides into the crumbling station of District 12, and the doors slowly open. Haymitch gets out first, and then me, and I am met with a sea of people, large cameras and blulbs flashing. I blink, but my eyes are growing accustomed to the flashing lights of cameras, having lived through it for several days in the Capitol. The red floaty dress I'm wearing does not help to take attention away from me as I try to find my mother and brothers in the crowds, and I am constantly pulled back by the camera crews and interviewers who couldn't get hold of me in the Capitol._

_I am stumbling forward, pushed only by Haymitch's hand on the small of my back, when a pair of arms embrace me. They are warm and sturdy,_  
_and for a moment, I think they are my mother's. But the smell of cole dust is overpowering, and I realise that it is not my mother who is holding me, but Cole's._

_"Well done, Delly." She whispers in my ear. "You made him proud. You made us all proud."_

_My breath catches in my throat and I clutch at her. She pulls away, however, and slips a chain around my neck. It's made of gold, and relatively small, with a gold band hanging from it. The gold could not be real, toehrwise it would have been sold for food a while back, unless the family is very sentimental. It's polished to erfection, and Cole's mother lifts my curled blonde hair over it, so that it settles on my neck._

_"It was Cole's," She said, smiling. "He didn't take it into the arena for fear of losing it, or breaking it. You give it to your son, to give to his son. Cole was my only boy, and he won't be having any sons." Her eyes take on a heavy sadness, but she looks up at me, and smiles still. "He would of wanted you to have it."_

_"Thank you." I say, though the sound does not come out. I finger the gold band on the chain, turning it between my fingers until I am embraced by a pair of arms, my brothers, though which one I do not know, and am then passed to my mother. I do not listen to her talking to me, telling me how good I was, how proud she is, how much she loves and missed me. The only thing that exists for me in this moment is that chain. The one piece of Cole I have left._

_I am led to the Justice Building then, I think, and I am sat down on a stage. I make an effort to smile and try to look happy, and not fiddle with my chain. Mayor Undersee makes a speech about another District 12 winner, how it showed we were are strong district and what not, and eventually,_  
_it ended. Without me having to say a thing._

_It is only then, as I am led from the stage outside the Justice Building, that I am embraced in a strong pair of arms. I pair of arms that I know, more than any other, and that I have craved for the past four weeks. I am not sure, however, that I want them as much as I used to. But I am still happy when Gale pulls me into his arms, rests his lips against my head and whispers, "I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry."_


	18. I Should Of Listened To You

"I'm so sorry, Delly."

The voice comes from in front of me. I have been sat on this bench for the past ten minutes, and I am not prepared to move. Every so often, I will scribble a sentence down onto the clipboard in front of me, where I am writing my "report" on how the mission went, and what tactics we used, etc. But really, I am thinking of Peeta, and of the life the Capitol have destroyed. It angers me, down to my very core. Physical torturing is bad enough - the slitting of skin and electrocuting of wet flesh - but mental torture is a whole knew level, which I never thought the Capitol could be capable of, but should have suspected.

Gale stands in front of me, his face somber. He seems genuinely sorry. I look up at him. "I should have listened to you." I say.

He shakes his head. "It was good, what you did. You tried. That's what matters."

I nod, and set down my pen, moving across the bench for him to sit next to me. Remembering our last conversation, I have no desire to annoy Gale again. I can't enter Peeta's room without it ending in a screaming match - I have begun to scream back, it seems - and Gale hasn't spoken to me until now. I want to make things right.

"I got hurt." I murmur, and I lean my head on his shoulder. He slowly puts an arm around me, though he says nothing. We sit like that for a while,  
in pure silence. I finger the chain around my neck, and Gale's thumb rubs my arm. "I'm sorry." I say eventually.

Gale pulls back slightly to look at me. "Why are _you _sorry?" He asks.

"I was a bitch." I shrug, knowing that I can't say everything I want to.

He shakes his head, and pulls me into his shoulder. "I wasn't exactly kind either." He replies.

I smile slightly, and take the arm that is fiddling with my chain, and wrap it around him, feeling him put his other arm around me. This is the closest we have been in weeks. It feels good. But good things never last.

"General Cartwright," A breathless looking young soldier says, as she runs around the corner. "President Coin needs you in Command." She looks to Gale. "You too, Soldier Hawthorne." She then looks at us properly, our arms still wrapped around one another, heads resting against each other, and she blushes slightly. "If you're not busy."

I stand up, keeping hold of Gale's hand as I do and pulling him with me. "Not busy at all, Soldier," I smile, and pick my paperwork up with my free hand. "Thank you for the prompt."

She nods, and scurries off down the corridor towards the school rooms, and Gale and I walk towards Command.


	19. I'll Start Immediately

When we walk into Command, still holding hands, there is little response. Everyone is sat around the table with the map of the Capitol which is covered in flashing lights. I stare at it, and already I know what it is. My smile fades, and I let go of Gale's hand, sitting in my seat to the right of Coin. She gives me a solemn nod, and looks to the map.

"You know what this is, General?" She asks me.

"A map of the Capitol." I look at the blinking lights. "And the pods it contains."

Coin nods. "With District 2 on our side-" Katniss' mission was successful, then. "-we are ready to take the Capitol. We have regrouped the rebels, treated the wounded and are ready to strike. And as General, we need you to decide who goes, and who stays."

I look at Gale, who is looking intently at the map, and I can see him thinking. He looks at me, and I see it - he wants Katniss to go. But is it not too dangerous for her? She's in hospital, she's not well, she came out only for Finnick's wedding and then she went back. She is still on Morphling. She can't go.

I give a nod. "I'll watch training for a few days - only those who have attended training and are in the advanced classes may be considered."

Coin writes something down on a sheet of paper and I see Gale's head droop. Haymitch, who has been standing against the wall as Jackson has occupied his usual seat, silently leaves the room, and I have no doubt about where he is going.

"When will we be going?" I ask.

Plutarch clears his throat. "Three weeks time." He says.

"We need most of the troops in two weeks time, however." Boggs says.

I nod. "I'll start immediately."

Coin shakes her head. "We have other things to attend to - strategising for starters. You can start at the end of the meeting."

I take out a sheet of paper, nodding and picking up a pen from the table in front of me. _It's going to be a long meeting,_ I tell myself, but they depend on me, in a way. I am the best strategist there is. And so I get to work.


	20. Not The Only One

We are near to coming to the end of our strategy meeting, Gale and I leading the way: pointing out pods, how to defeat them or at least get around them, and looking at the underground tunnels we could take. And the the door is being flung open, and in storms a worse-for-wear looking Katniss, still in a hospital gown.

"What do you mean, I'm not going to the Capitol? I have to go! I'm the Mockingjay!" She cries.

Coin barely looks up from the screen of my strategies in front of her. And as the Mockingjay, your primary goal of unifying the districts against the Capitol has been achieved. Don't worry - if it goes well, we'll fly you in for the surrender.

I give a small nod, and look back down to the screen infront of me, which I am still drawing a route that we will take through the Capitol on.

"That'll be too late! I'll miss all the fighting. You need me - I'm the best shot you ve got! Katniss shouts.

_Wrong_, I think, but I say nothing, continuing to draw the pink line through the grey blocks with my stylus.

"Gale's going." Katniss adds.

"Gale has shown up for training every day unless occupied with other approved duties. We feel confident he can manage himself in the field," I say. "How many training sessions do you estimate you've attended?"

I know for a fact that in her time in Dsitrct 13, she has attended a grand total of 0 training sessions, even the beginner classes. She has no idea what she's doing.

"Well, sometimes I was hunting. And I trained with Beetee down in Special Weaponry."

"It s not the same, Katniss," says Boggs. "We all know you're smart and brave and a good shot. But we need soldiers in the field. You don't know the first thing about executing orders, and you're not exactly at your physical peak."

"That didn't bother you when I was in Eight. Or Two, for that matter," She replies, and I raise an arched eyebrow at Plutarch.

"You weren't originally authorized for combat in either case," says Plutarch, shooting her a look and gulping.

"And both resulted in your injury," Boggs adds.

"But I have to go," Katniss insists.

"Why?" I ask.

She pauses for a moment, a million reasons flashing behind her eyes. She cannot say any of them, I know. She isn't the only one with a personal vendetta against President Snow. She isn't the only one who wants his blood shed. She isn't the only one who would enjoy his death. I know her reason, and it is not one she can say.

"Because of Twelve. Because they destroyed my district."

Coin thinks for a moment, and I know her look to well - she's actually considering. "Well, you have three weeks. It's not long, but you can begin training. If the Assignment Board and the General deem you fit, possibly your case will be reviewed."

Katniss gives a small sigh, because of what I don't know, but she relaxes slightly. She knows this is the best she'll get. And I'm on the leading the assignment board, everyone - incluing her - knows that now, and when she sees me looking at her, her broken frame, hospital gown and matted hair, her back straightens. She gives a small nod, and leaves the room, and I look down at my screen. I trace the rest of the route, as if this whole incident never happened.


	21. I'll Be Observing

I observe training from a one-way wall, a clipboard full of names in front of me. Some have been crossed off, others ticked. Some have been left alone, where I have tried to sort them, but have found myself unable to. Katniss and Johanna had been training non-stop for two and half weeks, and they had improved, it had to be said. But they're still not ready. Everyone knows that. The soldiers they're training with will not be going to the Capitol, and neither will they.

I sit in my office beside Coin's room and flick through the lists of troops who WILL be going to the Capitol. I make sure they are in the correct groups, and that they have the correct supplies. I check through the lists of names I will be looking at tomorrow, from my perch next to the examination room, looking through the one-way glass and deciding whether they will fly to the Capitol or not. I am about to get up and leave my desk when there is a knock on the door.

"Enter." I say, flicking through the names without looking up.

Soldier York stands in front of me, and gives a small salute. I look up at her, and give her a nod.

"General Cartwright, ma'am," She says, and I see her gulp. "I would like to recommend Soldier Everdeen and Soldier Mason for exams tomorrow. Before the troops set out to the Capitol."

I sigh, and set my screen down on the table. "York-"

"Have you observed them recently, ma'am?" York asks me.

"A few days ago, yes." I sigh. "And they were doing well, yes, but they're not fit enough or trained enough-"

York shakes her head. "They're doing better know ma'am. They show up for two training lessons every day, please- I would like you to consider them."

I sigh. "Send them in for their examination tomorrow. I'll be observing. But they may not yet be sent along. Is that understood, Soldier?"

York nods. "Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am." She leaves the room, and I give another sigh, turning back to my work.

* * *

I stand in the observation room, which overlooks the examination room on one side, and has ten or so tv screens on the other, where you can whatever you can't see from the window. I stand with my arms on my hips, looking out of the window as a voice announces "Johanna Mason".

I don't ask about anything as I watch her. She's good, stealthy, obeys orders and thinks for herself, a balance which is hard to find. She takes out a few Peacekeepers, and just as she is nearing the end, her weakness is exposed.

Water.

The street is flooded, and sparks flash from the streetlamps above her. I see he eyes glaze over and she screams, falling to the ground. Her limbs twitch as she screams, high pitched wailing that I can hear from all the way up hear, never mind over the monitors that are down in the fake street.

"You can't do that!" I yell, turning to the people who are staring at the screens, their face devoid of emotion. They decided this, not I. "It's cruelty!  
She was tortured! You can't do that!" I scream.

"Get her out of there." A woman says over her intercom, and a man turns to me.

"It was her weakness. We had to test her. She failed. End of story." He gives me a curt nod and turns back to his screen.

I clamp my jaws together hard and say nothing, turning back to the window only after Johanna's screams have ceased. She'll be put back into hospital, I assume. All because of these _idiots_.

There are a few other soldiers, who I sort into different groups, and then the name "Katniss Everdeen" is announced. "This should be good." I mutter to myself. If her weakness is as bad as Johanna's, I'll have lost two decent soldiers, and sent two perfectly healthy people to hospital.

We set her in an ambush situation, with peacekeepers appearing from evrey direction, while she tries to make her way to the rendezvous point, just as she would have to do in the Capitol. She slowly, almost methodically, makes her way through the Block, and we add more peacekeepers to try and liven her up. That's when I see it - the gas tank that could be blown up and kill all the peacekeepers. I know she is about to be issued orders to drop, and that she will ignore them - because taking orders is her weakness. The order is given, and I watch her process it. 'To do it, or not to do it'.

My jaw drops as she throws herself to the ground, and the tank is blown up, sending the legion of peacekeepers into the air. She makes it to the rendevous point, and I shake my head as I tell Soldier James, the soldier on the other side of the Block, "451. Take her to Command."

"Yes, General." Comes the crackled reply, and I turn to the Assignemnt Board.

"You can do the rest yourself." I say. "I'm going to Command. No more troops are to be added to 451. We have all we need."

The people in the room nod, a few take notes, and I walk out of the room and down the stairs to Command.


	22. I Will Not Have To Face These

When I enter Command, the presentation I deisgned on the Capitol has already begun, with Plutarch giving it. The sharp-shooters are stood against the wall, and Plutarch nods at me. I take my place to his right, and watch through the presentation.

"This, for example, is the area surrounding one of the Peacekeepers' barracks. Not unimportant, but not the most crucial of targets, and yet look." Plutarch enters the code onto the keyboard, and lights begin to flash. The pods. "Each light is called a pod. It represents a different obstacle, the nature of which could be anything from a bomb to a band of mutts. Make no mistake, whatever it contains is designed to either trap or kill you. Some have been in place since the Dark Days, others developed over the years. To be honest, I created a fair number myself." I try not to wince. "This program, which one of our people absconded with when we left the Capitol, is our most recent information. They don't know we have it. But even so, it's likely that new pods have been activated in the last few months. This is what you will face."

I stare at the blinking lights in front of me. _I will not have to face these_. I think, and my gaze flicks to Gale. It's quickly blocked by Katniss, however, who is standing with her hand outstretched, cupping one of the pods. Finnick joins her, and immediately I know what they're thinking. Finnick's eyes flick to me, and I purse my lips. An arena. That's all it is.

"Ladies and gentlemen " His voice is quiet and soft, but Katniss's echoes and reverbrates off the walls.

"Let the Seventy-seventh Hunger Games begin!"

She laughs, quickly, before anyone can make an objection or even register her words. And I join in, with a simply giggle. Because I know that her team needs her, and that she has to go, and that if people realise the meaning behind her words they won't WANT to take her with them. I'm finally doing something for Katniss Everdeen, and even though it doesn't make me feel any better, I know it was the right thing to do.

"I don t even know why you bothered to put Finnick and me through training, Delly," She says.

"Yeah, we're already the two best-equipped soldiers you have," Finnick adds cockily.

"Do not think that fact escapes me," I say, with an impatient wave and a hint of a smile. "Now back in line, Soldiers Odair and Everdeen. Plutarch has a presentation to finish."

The move back into place, and try to look interested, but I know they're both thinking about their seperate games, and about everything they encountered. Because I certainly am. And it takes a lot of my concentration to steel my nerves, and watch the presentation. When it finishes, I say, "Everyone is to go to the Infirmary for the cut. Except you, Katniss." I nod to her. "We need to keep you looking as much like the Mockingjay as possible." I sigh slightly, and look to the others. "Off you go."

They leave the room, and I wait until the others have gone before I leave. Of course, I will be getting a military cut too. I finger the ends of my honey blonde hair, which I never let get too far past my shoulder anyways, but that I've stupidly got attached too. Indigo cut it this way for the games, before I left, telling me it would be practical. Cole had stated that he liked it that length, and that I should keep it like that. Gale had said it was a new look, when I had returned from the Capitol, and that he liked it. Yes. I have grown attached to my hair.

Gale walks beside me as I walk, and as if reading my mind, he fingers the piece of hair that I have just let go of. "I'm gonna miss it." He says, in a nonchalant way.

"Me too." I sigh, taking his hand in mine as we continue on to the Infirmary.


	23. Came To Say Goodbye

I pick at the short strands of blonde hair, trying to shape them into some sort of style. But it sticks up in all directions, having never been this short since I was little. I sigh, pulling on my Military Cap, and find that the hair that is left flattens down. Why am I bothering to worry about it? Vanity will only get me killed.

Gale's squd, the squad of Sharp-Shooters in being sent out today, and I will not be going with them. I must go and say goodbye.

They're boarding a hovercraft when I get above ground, and Katniss and Jackson are just getting onboard. Gale is at the bottom of the stairs, and when he sees me, he turns, jogging over to me.

"Came to say goodbye." I murmur.

He nods. "You're not coming yet."

It's not a question, but I answer as if it was. "No. Not yet. I'm being entered further into the Capitol."

Gale nods again, and taking a deep breath, he steps forward and hugs me. "Just be careful." He says. "I don't know what they have planned for you, and I'm guessing you can't tell me, but please be careful."

"I will." I murmur, hugging him tight. "And you too, okay? Nothing impulsive, now."

He nods, and we both pull away.

"I'll see you when all this is over." I say, and he nods.

With that, he turns around, walking back towards the hovercraft. But a few steps away from me he stops, jogs back, and says, "Forgot something."

I frown, but my frown smooths out as his lips meet mine, parting almost as quickly as they joined. "See you at the execution." He says, jogging back to the hovercraft.

And suddenly, I know how he must have felt, when he sent me off to the Capitol with Cole, Haymitch and Effie.

* * *

I walk back to my office, but my Comincuff buzzes, and I sigh. _Come to Command. Urgent meeting._ I turn, walking in the opposite direction to Command. Inside are Plutarch, Coin, Fulvia, a few doctors from the hospital, and Haymitch. I take my place next to Coin, lookin around me warily.

"Good to see you, General." Coin says. "Now that you're here we can begin."

"Begin what?" I ask. Coin raises an eyebrow. "Ma'am."

Coin gives a small smile, and crosses her hands in front of her. "I want to send Soldier Mellark to the Capitol."

Haymitch and I both stand up out of our seats, immediately raving about the stupidity of it, but she makes us both sit down with a wave of her hand.

"Listen to me," She says. "Mellark's mental state is that of a soldier, now. He passed his exam, and has been participating in training. Though I shall not reveal his weakniss-" _Katniss_, I think. "-he got over it with ease, and is ready to be sent into the warzone."

I shake my head. "But-"

"He will join Squadran 451, and will take the Capitol under Commander Boggs."

"As in Katniss' squadran?" Haymitch asks, but it's not really a question. I know that look. The look that he's giving her. It's his "I will not stand for this look" and, having been on the receiving end of it a few times myself, I know he's not going to let this go. He'll let it slide, for now, and later, most likely _much_ later, he'll get back at her in some way. I decide to take his example, and let it go.

"When will he be going?" I ask.

"When you leave, General." Coin replies.

I look to Haymitch, who frowns back at me. "When I leave, ma'am?" I ask.

She nods. "Though you'll be going deeper into the Capitol by means that are still top secret," She spares a wary glance at the other people around the table, reminding me where I am and who's here, and then continues, "But I wish you to accompany Soldier Mellark as far as the Capitol, where you will explain the situation to Commander Boggs and his squad."

I grit my teeth, but nod. "Yes ma'am."

"Good." She says. "If this discussion is over, then this meeting is adjourned."


	24. I Have A Mission

The pale pink pencil skirt rides up every time I walk, and the pink knee length coat is ten times less comfortable than it looked on the hanger. The soft purple blouse I wear has ruffles going down the front, and because I am assured it will be cold in the Capitol, and because I must hide my identity, I hold a pair of purple leather gloves and a purple scarf in my hand. The pink heels clack against the floor loudly as I walk. My wig is in my bag, and I must put it on in the hovercraft. My cropped blonde hair looks completely out of place amongst the Capitol get up.

My blouse is bullet proof. The coat, too, as well as stab-proof. My legs are bare and exposed, but I can take care of them if need be. There is a pocket on my coat, near my neck, that contains a pill. There is another one in my blouse. And my handbag. I am more than prepared.

I walk onto the landing sight, where the hovercraft is waiting to take myself and the fresher troops out to the Capitol, along with our newest soldier.

Peeta.

He stands with a gun slung over his shoulder, free of guards, waiting for me to arrive. His eyes widen as he sees me, and I sigh. "I'm going undercover." I say. "It's top secret. No questions."

He nods, and turns to board the hovercraft. From where I stand by the hovercraft, I can see Oleaster and Hannah. But my vision is blocked by Haymitch.

"Come on sweetheart," He says. "We gotta go."

I nod, looking again to my brother, but he's gone. I walk up the steps into the Hovercraft, with Haymith following me, and I take my seat next to Peeta.

I take a long look at District 13. Because chances are, I will not be coming back here.

* * *

"Commander Boggs," I say, and he scrambles to his feet, and to attention.

"General?" He asks. It takes him a long time of looking at me before he decides it's actually me. My pink wig has been fitted, the tight, chin length curls bouncing as I look at him. I have my scarf on, though it doesn't cover my mouth yet, and my gloves. There is no way to know it's me. Eventually, though, Boggs nods. "What is it, ma'am?"

"We have a soldier for you." I mutter. My eyes, which are hidden behind purple contact lenses, flick to Peeta.

The others have already noticed him, and they turn to mutter to eachother. I hold my head up high, however, and see Boggs flush a deep shade of red.

"Why is _he _here?" He demands angrily.

I wait for a moment to see if he'll calm, but he doesn't. So I calmly reply, "Coin's orders."

"He'll kill her." Boggs snaps.

"I know." I reply in a heart beat, stepping forward to him slightly in my pale pink heels. "Of course I know. And you don't think that's what Coin wants? Think about it, Boggs. If Katniss is out of the picture, she'll _definitely _become the new president of Panem, without a shadow of a doubt. She's not adverse to killing Katniss. Or Peeta. Or you. Or me, for that matter."

I find I have been leaning closer and closer to Boggs as I speak, and now I straighten up, holding my chin up high and feeling the artificial curls brush against it.

"I have a mission to begin and complete." I say, retreiving my calm voice. Boggs is stunned. Even the soldiers around us have stopped talking, and Peeta is looking at me warily. "If you have any more _questions_, I suggest you take them up with the president herself. Good day, Boggs."

I begin to walk away, through the shattered rainbow glass on the floor. I was meant to get a ride into the Capitol, but I have decided against that. I can go from building to building with the miniature-holo inside my pocket to guide me away from any pods, and it'll lead me the civillian way into the Capitol. I walk towards the orange, pink and other brightly coloured buildings in the streets, that have been deserted for weeks. I hear the murmurs rise up around me as I do so, and out of the cornre of my eye, I see Gale.

He's staring at me, as if trying to decide if it _is _me. I don't turn to look at him.

As I walk, I pull my scarf up around my neck, and pull my gloves up further. I step through the last of the shattered glass and tents, and onto the street, my heels cliclking as I go.


	25. To Get As Close To Him As Possible

It was easy to get out of the rebel zone. But now I have been walking on these heels with barely any sleep for two days, and I am feeling it. Every step aches. My clothes are becoming limp, less crisp. I have taken to stealing some on the way through. I have only fired my gun once, to kill a poor woman who was about to call the peacekeepers. But it was necessary, I tell myself. It was necessary.

I start to notice the build up of civillisation as I go. The apartments go from being completely deserted, to seemingly having been lived in within the past few days. Then I notice people actually INSIDE the apartments, and a few on the street. I watch them, from a perch next to the window in an abandoned apartment - they walk quickly, never stopping, never saying hello. They all have scarves pulled up around their necks too, and thick coats that fall just below their knees. I try to pick up some of their habits - the woman with handbags walk with it resting in the crook of their elbow, their hand flat and palm to the sky; they never greet eachother, nor look at eachother, nor smile at eachother; they look around themselves warily, as if any one of the people beside them may be a rebel.

On my fourth day, having rested, eaten and changed back into my original clothes, I am about to venture out into the Capitol, when I the television automatically flickers to life. It is President Snow, announcing the death of the Mockingjay.

I sit down on the violet sofa, blinking slowly. If Katniss is dead, then Peeta most likely killed her,meaning Peeta is most likely dead. And if Peeta did kill her, there is no doubt that Gale would of tried to defend her, and may of got himself killed too.

I stare at the tv until it has flicked back off again, the screen darkening to black. I run over it inmy head repeatedly. Could he just be saying that to reassure the Capitol people? Or is it true? Are they really dead? Most likely.

I stand up, then, feeling angry with myself. I must keep going. I practically sotrm out of the apartment, about to fling open the door, when I realise that no one knows I am in here. I must act like the Capitol people act. When in Rome-

I straighten up, pull my scar fup around my neck, and put my bag in the crook of my elbow. I hold my palm to the sky, and keeping my eyes narrowed, I leave the building.

There are still people milling about outside, but there are less than there were before. We are still relatively close to the rebel zone, here, and people are moving inward to be with family and get away from the awfulness here. But as I move closer to the center, the number of people grows, until it feels just like it did when I arrived here with Cole. Funny, how both times I was being taken to my death.

Turning on to a small square, I see the shop immediately. In the window is a range of fur underwear, made of deep brown fur, and the shop is deserted inside. When I openthe door, a bell rings, and an old women turns to look at me. "Come to look at the furs?" She asks.

"Yes," I reply. "It's freezing outside."

Tigress nods and flicks her fingers towards herlsef, gesturing me to come forward. I am led into the back, where there is a bed already set up on the kitchen floor. "One night?" She asks.

I nod. "Thank you, Tigress."

She smiles, a cat like grin, and returns to the shop, leaving me on my cold, hard bed to get some more rest before I move out.

When I awake, there is early morning light streaming through the kitchen window. I have learnt from experience that moving early helps, as there are less people to recognise me, and it's easier to check the holo, though I doubt there are many - if any - pods around this built up, civillian area.

I get up, put on my clothes - I slept in my undergarments - and eat the slice of bread and cheese that Tigress has left on the counter. I am about to leave out of the back door, when I catch sight of a person out of the corner of my eye. Tigress shakes her head, the whiskers on her face quivering. "No one walks that way," She purrs. "Go out the front."

I nod, my pink curls bouncing. Walking out to the front, I see that the shop is still closed, and as we go, Tigress turns the sign around, and stands by the door. "What is your mission, girl?" She asks.

_Top secret,_ I think, but then I realise I have left no form of payment for her kidness. So I look around me, purple tinted eyes flicking from left to right before I say, "To get as close to _him _as possible."

She nods, and steps aside. "Good luck." She purrs, holding the door open for me as I leave into the cool morning air.


	26. The Apartment Is A Base

From where I stand in the square, I can see Snow's mansion. And immediately, I know that the front is know way to go in. I must go around the back. Though I'm not even sure there is a back. And even so, how will I get there?

_Isn't it obvious?_ that small part of me says in a patronising tone. _Go through the houses_.

Oh.

I move from the square pretending that I've seen a friend go into one of the buildings opposite me, a large purple structure with rainbow glass windows. I walk through, but the building opens up into just a single door with the numbers 101 painted on in purple caligaphy, and an elevator. I sigh. This couldn't of been easy, could it?

I take out my gun, first of all. I hate killing. I hate this. I hate this mission. Why couldn't they just drop me into the Capitol instead of having me kill innocents as I go? _Not innocents_, Coin had told me. _The enemy_. I hardly thought the enemy would be wearing fluffy green slippers and a silky green gown. I sigh, and try the door. It's unlocked. Meaning someone is inside. Fabulous.

I creep through the house, taking off my heels so as to make as little noise as possible. The floors are wooden and polished, and the possibilty of my feet squaking is large. I carry on through, however, and eventually here voices from the living room. I grit my teeth in a grimace, trying to sneak past, when the door opens. And it is not a prim capitol civillian who exits.

Peacekeepers. They're using the apartment as a base.

I slam myself to the wall, though the peacekeeper hasn't seen me. Once he's entered another room, I run, dashing through the house to the door I can see opposite, that hopefully leads to the outside, and freedom. But as i run, the peacekeeper who had left, returns, and I am forced to spin round, take my aim while running and shoot, hitting him in the shoulder. Not a direct hit, but enough to put him out of action. I hear the shouts from the Peacekeeprs behind me as I run through the door, and I hear gunshot. Several gunshots. The rush past my head, hitting the wall beside me, but one hits me - right in the calf. I stumble, a small scream escaping my lips, but I am through the door, and into the small garden outside.

It's not even a garden. It must be a metre by metre square, with a few green plants in bright pink pots. The wall at the back is large, and I know I must climb it. I have locked the door behind me, and the Peacekeepers rattle at it. I hoist myself up, trying not to use my bad leg, and throw the heels over first. They clatter to the ground, and I follow the, jumping to the ground and trying not to make a noise. My leg bleeds horifficaly, and I take off my scarf to wrap around the wound, leaving the bullet in place. I stagger forward, towards the mansion that I can still see in the distance.

* * *

I have reached the back of the mansion, disabling a few pods as I go. One contained a nest of trackerjackers; another a barbed wire net. Both horrific, and both avoided.

I can see that inside the mansion there are no pods, but lining the wall to get into it are thousands. Pods line the roofs, lie under ground, and litter the streets. I stumble along with my bleeding leg, that looks whiter than a sheet, and try to avoid the pods without having to take them out. It's not easy, but I manage.

I reach the wall of the mansion. It's large, and built of white stone, with pods littered over the top. There is a gap, small enough for me to get through if I'm careful. I slowly hoist myself up, taking care to throw my bad leg over first. I'm straddling the wall, and when I look down, I can see that the fall on this side is larger. It's going to hurt. But once I'm over, I will be inside the mansion, and I can kill Snow.

Hopping onto the bright green grass below, I twist my bad ankle. I let out a sob, but I carry on. My pink wig has become skewif, and so I take it off, allowing my cropped blonde hair to poke through for the first time in days. I hobble towards the mansion, where I can see an open window,  
with a vase of white roses inside.

And that's when the bombs go off.


	27. I Simply Don't Care

I duck down under the window ledge, my breath catching in my throat. Though the explosions sound close, I know I have not been caught in them, and I close my eyes for a moment. But then they flash open, as a thought hits me

_Katniss must be in the Captiol_

And if Katniss is in the Capitol, then so is Gale. And Peeta. I close my eyes again, trying to block it out. I take deep breaths, quick, deep breaths, trying to calm myself. And then I turn, peeking over the edge of the window slightly. There is a desk in the room, and a few filing cabinets, it seems, but the room is empty. Desolate, in fact. No one is in there, and I doubt it has been occupied for a long time.

I pull myself through the window, taking my gun out of my coat pocket, and holding it in my hand, by my side. I creep to the desk, which has nothing but an old picture frame on top of it, and a few sheets of paper with the Capitol seal on the bottom of it. I pick up the picture frame, and study the people inside it. I wiped away the dest from it with the back of my gun hand, and see President Snow, a snake-like smile on his lips, and a girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with long, natural blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looks happy. And funnily, so does Snow. Is this girl his granddaughter? I knew he had one, though I thought she would be hidden away, hating him for what he did, or some other reason entirely. But she's smiling broadly into the camera, her arms wrapped around his neck, with the sun shining across her face. They both look happy. As If they love eachother. Could I really break that up?

I put the photo down. I _have_ to kill Snow. It's too late now.

I am alone in the house, apart from Snow himself, perhaps. I have my phone in my coat pocket, and all I have to do is press the red button that will send a thousand troops into the mansion. But I don't do it yet. I continue through the house.

I enter what I believe to be the main hall, with a grand staircase cloaked in a red carpet and marble floors. Keeping my gun pointed in front of me, at arms length, I slowly travel up the stairs. I limp on my bad leg, my heels making it even more difficult. I soldier on, however, with the smell of roses making me want to vomit. I decide to go where the smell seems strongest - the right. I hope he will be in his bedroom, or somewhere where I could catch him easily. I check the rooms, each and every one of them along the corridor, the "east wing", and find each of them empty. Each bed in perfect order, with the red sheets made and the white pillows plumped. A fresh vase of flowers on the bedside table. I close each door quickly to hurry on to the net pristine room.

My determination as waining as I search each room quickly. I limp terribly on my leg, almost twisting it agian with every step. My face is cut open and bleeding, probably from hitting the wall of the house so quickly. My arm is aching from holding it poker straight for so long. My friends are most likely dead. My world is close to crashing down around me. And I can't give up yet. I can't press the red button. So I continue on.

Eventually, I strike gold - a garden, in the middle of the house, with green-tinted glass walls and thousands of red and white roses inside. I open the door, which gives a slight creak, and I curse. I almost curse again when my heels click against the glass floor, and then I decide that I simply don't care. I simply don't care.

I walk through the maze of roses quickly. They go high over my head, towering a metre or so above me, and their smell knocks me sick. I hold the gun out in front of me, as I walk out into a clearing. And in it, ever so nonchalantly, is President Snow, sat on a stool, smelling the roses. I stop at the edge of the clearing and hold my gun out, slipping on hand into my pocket to press the red button on my phone. At first he doesn't turn round, and then eventually I see the side of his face. He looks to me, apparently surprised. "You're not who I was expecting." He says.

"I know." I answer.

"Then why are you here?" He asks.

"Because I'm the best." I answer simply.

He cocks his head slightly. "The best?" He asks. His eyes scan me, and take me in. "You look rather battered."

"It's been a long journey." I reply, malice in my voice.

He studies me for a moment longer, before saying, "Aren't you last years victor? The glitter girl?" He smirks.

I keep my face straight as I reply, "I am indeed. Aren't you the viscious dictator of our civilisation?"

He scoffed slightly. "I am indeed." he said, repeating my words.

For a moment, we fell silent. Our troops would be swarming this building in minutes. All I had to do was keep Snow here. I thought about saying something, some malicious comment, when he spoke first: "What was the name of that boy?" He snapped his fingers afew times. "It was very stereotypical of your district..."

My blood runs cold. My face loses all hint of scorn. I feel tears well behind my eyes: _I must remain strong._

"Cole." I grit my teeth. "Cole was his name."

Snow nodded, knowlingly. "Such a shame." He said. "You two were rather cute. I alsmost had a mind to call it off there and make a rule change-" I hear a door slam open downstairs. _They're here_. "-but that would miss the whole point of the games. They're supposed to highlight suffering. Tell me, Dahlia, do you miss him?" I give a terse nod. Feet stamp on the stairs. "Ah, young love. I suppose you have moved on. Such a shame, to waste such a fabulous young boy. He would of been excellent in the Capitol, the type of kid we love. Quaint and folk like-" Feet on the first floor, shouts. They know where I am. "-but you're partly to blame for his death too, dear." My legs shake. "You are here, and he is not. You caused the pain you're feeling. You caused his death. He had to die for you to live-"

"No."

"-he sacrificed himself for you. Those were the types of wounds we could heal in the Capitol-"

"No."

"- You killed him."

"No!" I scream, as troops pour into the clearing, surrounding him, pulling him from my view. Tears stream down my face as I repeat the cry of protestation, screaming as someone knocks the gun from my hand and drags me away. Strong arms wrap around me, and a familiar voice whispers in my ear,

"It's okay. You're okay. We're okay."

"Cole." I sob out, closing my eyes and trying to pretend it's him as I sob into Peeta's chest.


	28. Fighting The Urge To Scream

I sit in a room, facing the red, patterned wall paper. My hands move incessantly, and I chew my lip till the skin breaks. Today I must go back to being the general. I go back to wearing my grey vost top and trousers, and black jacket. I go back to being who I was before, as if none of this happened. And I must do it publically.

As we gather in one of the many rooms in Snow's Mansion, I finding myself looking around warily. After days of being on watch and on guard, I find myself doing it constantly. I sit down to Coin's right at the table. I am looking at Johanna, Annie, Beetee, Enobaria, Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta, who nods at me reassuringly.

Coin begins to speak immediately, "I've asked you here to settle a debate. Today we will execute Snow. In the previous weeks, hundreds of his accomplices in the oppression of Panem have been tried and now await their own deaths. However, the suffering in the districts has been so extreme that these measures appear insufficient to the victims. In fact, many are calling for a complete annihilation of those who held Capitol citizenship. However, in the interest of maintaining a sustainable population, we cannot afford this."

I shudder slightly. I hate them, and everything they have done, but complete annihilation?

"So, an alternative has been placed on the table. Since my colleagues and I can come to no consensus, it has been agreed that we will let the victors decide. A majority of four will approve the plan. No one may abstain from the vote," says Coin. "What has been proposed is that in lieu of eliminating the entire Capitol population, we have a final, symbolic Hunger Games, using the children directly related to those who held the most power."

All eight of us turn to her, and my jaw drops. "What?" Johanna says, stunned..

"We hold another Hunger Games using Capitol children," says Coin simply.

"Are you joking?" asks Peeta.

"No. I should also tell you that if we do hold the Games, it will be known it was done with your approval, although the individual breakdown of your votes will be kept secret for your own security," Coin nods.

"Was this Plutarch's idea?" asks Haymitch.

"It was mine," says Coin, with a shake of her head. "It seemed to balance the need for vengeance with the least loss of life. You may cast your votes."

"No!" Peeta cries, almost immediately. "I vote no, of course! We can t have another Hunger Games!"

"Why not?" Johanna retorts, her wide brown eyes darker than before. "It seems very fair to me. Snow even has a granddaughter. I vote yes."

"So do I," says Enobaria with a shrug. "Let them have a taste of their own medicine."

"This is why we rebelled! Remember?" Peeta looks at the rest of us manically. "Annie?"

"I vote no with Peeta," she says. "So would Finnick if he were here."

"But he isn t, because Snow s mutts killed him," Johanna nods.

"No," says Beetee. "It would set a bad precedent. We have to stop viewing one another as enemies. At this point, unity is essential for our survival. No."

"We're down to Katnis, Haymitch, and Dahlia." says Coin.

I shake my head. I continue to shake my head, and close my eyes. I do not want to have to make this desicion. This is a decision between life and death, and I do not want to make it. I stop shaking my head, and close my eyes tight, fighting the urge to scream.

"I vote yes for Prim." Katniss says.

"Haymitch, Dahlia, it's up to you," Coin prompts us.

Haymitch looks at Katniss while Peeta screams all kinds of obscenities at him. At me, too, though I'm not listening. I've shut everything out, trying to make sense of my head and the thoughts that rattle around inside of it.

"I'm with the Mockingjay," he says eventually, and I look up at him with cold, dead eyes.

If Haymitch had of said no, I could of said no too, knowing that the yes would only cause havic amongst the vote, and Coin would most likely end up choosing. But now I had to actually give an opinion. And it scared me.

Peeta looked at me, with wide blue eyes. I stared down at the table, at the knots and grooves in the wood, and he said, "Delly. No. Delly-" He's shaking his head slightly, as I continue to stare at the table.

"Yes." I whisper. I refuse to look up as I hear Peeta's fist land against the wood, knowing how apalled he is with me, at what I've agreed to. I stare solemnly at the mahogany, as Coin says,

"Excellent. That carries the vote. Now we really must take our places for the execution." And with that she leaves the room, and eventually I follow suit.


	29. Her Power Falls To Me

I stand on the balcony with Coin, just inside the house. I was told to get changed into a red dress, and it feels awkward and stiff on my body. I tug at the hem, attempting to pull it down past my knees, but as I straighten it rides back up. I sigh.

"It looks pretty." A voice says from behind me.

I spin around, raising an eyebrow. "It looks ridiculous." I say.

Gale shakes his head. "Beautiful."

"Not my idea." I shrug.

"A good idea." he replies.

I look at him for a moment, and laugh. I step forward, pulling him into my arms. I haven't seen him in days, and it feels good to just hold him. To just have him in my arms and know he's safe. He kisses my cheek, swaying me slightly as we embrace.

"I'm glad you're okay." he says.

"I'm not." I shake my head, and look down at the cast on my ankle. I had actually broken the bone, not just twisted it. My other foot is dressed in a red heel, and I can't help but feel ridiculous. "But you came out unscathed?"

"Virtually." he shrugged, keeping his hands on my shoulders as he looks me over.

I hear cheers from the crowd below the balcony, and know it must be soon. "You have to go." I say. "Don't want to miss the execution."

He raises an eyebrow, but nods. "I'll see you later." He says, pressing his lips to the top of my head as he walks away, out of the room, only to be replaced by Coin, in a grey suit.

"Ready?" She asks. I nod, picking up my crutches. "Then let's go."

We appear on the balcony, and the crowd errupts into cheers. I look down at them, and see a group of them chanting my name. Strange. They seem to be Capitol citizens. They turn so quickly, I think, as my attention is drawn to Snow, being led from the mansion. He look ill, and sickly, and ready to die. Perhaps he is. I haven't seen him since the capture.

Katniss takes her place in front of him, then, and I see her draw her bow. Snow's hands are clasped behind a unnecessary post, and I watch as she takes a few short, quick breaths before taking her aim. I see her eyes flicker, and I know immediately what's coming.

I do not stop it.

I move back a step, removing myself completely from her line of fire, and that is all the encouragement she needs. She shifts her bow to the bacony and shoots, the arrow hitting Coin clean in the chest as she falls onto the circle below us. I gasp, not expecting it to be so quick, and lean over the edge to see her broken body on the floor. And then I am distracted by the sound of evil, maniacal laughter, echoing around the stunnde audience. Snow laughs, coughing blood in front of him before the people begin to push, trampling over where he stands, screaming as they do so. I turn, running into the main building as the grey uniformed troops descend on Katniss. Because I am the General. I am Coin's second in command.

And now her power falls to me.


	30. The Mayor Of Two

I walk as I give my orders, the red dress apparently adding to the look of authority, as people forget my age and immediately take the commands. "I want an emergency election now, in the main drawing room, all the district leaders and past victors that are here, I want them in there now. I don't care what excuses they give, I want them in there. I want Katniss put into isolation, don't allow her to speak to anyone, don't allow her to hurt herself. We'll talk about that later. Just make sure she doesn't harm herself or others. I want the main circle cleared of civillians and Snow's body retrieved, is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." The man nods.

"Good." I reply.

Plutarch runs up to me as the other man scurries away, and he stops just short of me. He gives me a terse nod, and says, "President Cartwright."

I take a deep breath and nod. "In the drawing room, Plutarch. I'm calling an election. I won't be president for much longer."

Inside the room already there are everal leaders of Panem, district officials who ran them before the rebellion. There are a few victors, and a few high-enf Capitol citizens. They all turn to look at me as I enter, and I give them a nod. "Ladies, gentlemen." I say. "We've come here for an election. We need to decide a new leader of Panem, a new President. I want you each to cast your votes."

"Can we do it privately?" Someone asks.

I call a box forward, with a slot in the top. Paper is sat in front of each person at the table, including myself. "Write the name on a piece of paper, fold it, and put it in the box." I say. "The one with the most votes wins, and it's all anonymous."

Everyone nods. I sit down, and write the name of the person sitting opposite me. The person who I think may actually be able to run this country,  
without hate or malice or spite. I fold it twice, and put it in the box. Everyone follows my lead, and as the last person puts the name in the box, I take a deep breath.

"Right." I say. "Let's count the votes."

As I empty the folded pieces of paper on the table, I think about stopping this. Becoming President myself. Maybe I could do a good job. I've been watching Coin for years. I know what to do. I'm authoritive. I'm level headed. I'm good under pressure. But then, no. I would be a bad President. I would be opposed, for my youth, and my inexperience. I would not make a good President. And so I quickly count the names on the sheet of paper, and almost find a unanimous decision.

I turn to the woman opposite me, with dark brown eyes and even darker hair. Paylor looks back at me, and raises an eyebrow. "Welcome, President Paylor." I lay the sheets of Paper on the table for people to see, and Paylor stands up.

She studies the people around the table, and moves to my side. "Thank you." She says. A few people nod. "And for my first act as President, General, I would like to make you leader of District 2."

I look at her wide eyed. Me, barely 20 years old, running a whole district? One as strong as two, as well? She sees me, in my shock, and says, "You will be a good leader. The district was weakened, and they're looking for someone strong to sort out their home. You're perfect for the job." She nods, but I'm still looking at her, my jaw agape.

"This meeting is adjurned." She says. "You'll set out for Two in a few days, after you help me here. You are still the Presidents right hand woman, and General of the army." She walks out of the room, and after a few minutes I follow her, scurrying away after her.

* * *

"She made me the mayor of Two." I say to Gale, our heads close together as we lean over a table in one of Snow's offices.

"_Mayor_?" Gale asks with wide eyes.

I nod. "She wants me to go out there in a few days, to start the rebuild. I'm not going to be here for the trial." Gale nods. "Have you seen her?"

He shakes his head. "Not allowed."

I nod. She's meant to be kept in full isolation, until after her trial. After a moment of silence, I look up at him. "I want you to come to Two with me."

"What?" He frowns.

"I want you to come to Two with me. I want to make you head of the army there, and I want you to be my right hand man." I say, and bite my bottom lip. "You can say no." I add.

After a small moment of thinking, he says, "I can't say no to the Mayor."

He grins, and I let out a small laugh, grinning back at him. He leans in and kisses me quickly. As we pull away, I say, "We leave tomorrow. You won't get to see her."

He nods slowly. "I'll pack my bags."


	31. I'm Good

I sit on a train to Two, in a simply compartment, with Gale opposite me. I look out of the window, as we pull through the tunnel, and open up into grass and bushes. For once, I feel at peace. I fiddle with the chain around my neck, and the ring that is looped around it. As the landscape opens out around us, I take a deep breath, and close my eyes.

"You okay?" Gale asks.

I nod. "I'm good." I answer, closing my eyes and taking another deep breath.

And for once, I mean it. I am good. I am very good. I am amazing. I am the girl who once glittered, turned into a warrior, who lost the one she abruptly loved, just as she came to love him. Am I the capturer of Snow, the eagle that caught the snake. I am the girl who went through weeks of pain, of suffering, not just for her but for her friends. And for once, I am happy. And I close my eyes, trying to cling to the feeling while it's around.

Gale takes hold of my hand, his grip light. And I realise that the feeling of happiness will not be waning yet.


End file.
